If you’re canning—like putting up jars of tomatoes, sauerkraut, or bread-and-butter pickles—you definitely want it. The Food and Drug Administration and home-canning experts recommend it for safety, too. The pure salt helps prevent spoilage by controlling bacteria without adding weird chemicals. But if you’re just seasoning tonight’s pasta water? Please, grab the regular salt. Canning salt is coarser and dissolves more slowly, so you might end up with salty patches in your sauce.
Can you swap one for the other in a pinch?
Sure, life happens. You’re set to make grandma’s relish recipe, and you realize you only have table salt. You can use it, but you’ll need to adjust. Table salt is denser because of the additives, so use about 25% less. And expect that cloudy brine—nobody will die, but your pickles might look a little sad at the fair.
On the flip side, if you use canning salt for everyday cooking, it’s fine—just remember it’s stronger by volume. It doesn’t have the anti-caking stuff, so keep it in a shaker with a few grains of rice to prevent clumping. Otherwise, you’ll be banging the shaker like a frustrated drummer at band practice.
Canning Salt vs. Table Salt: How To Choose? » Kowalski Mountain
